Isole minori d&#039;Italia ed Europa: guida senza folla

Giglio Castello, Isle of Giglio, Tuscany

Campese: the longest beach on the Isle of Giglio, watched over by a 16th-century tower

On the north-western coast of Giglio, the bay of Campese is framed by a coastal tower built for Cosimo I against Saracen raids: today just sunsets and water that keeps changing colour.

Very quiet Aug 3, 2026

Italian villages

Giglio Castello: the medieval village atop the Isle of Giglio, far from the busy port

At 405 metres above sea level, within Aldobrandeschi walls and views that reach as far as Corsica on clear days, Giglio Castello is the Isle of Giglio without the port's bustle.

Almost deserted Aug 3, 2026

Milan, Italy

City corners

Secret Isola: The Milan Neighbourhood That Held Its Own Against the Bosco Verticale

Five minutes from the Porta Nuova skyscrapers and you're in a different city: working-class courtyards, old osterie, corner shops, murals, a lesser-known monumental cemetery. Here is the Isola that has not changed.

Very quiet Jul 18, 2026

Bornholm

Bornholm: the Danish Island That Smells of Smoked Fish and Granite

In the Danish Baltic, Bornholm guards round Viking-age churches, pine forests and the art of røgeost: an island unlike any other.

Isola di Dino

Isola di Dino: Calabria's Grotto Without Capri Crowds

Off Praia a Mare, on the Calabrian Tyrrhenian coast, a sea cave that rivals Capri's Blue Grotto: few tourists know it. Boat trip included.

Filicudi

Filicudi: the quiet side of the Aeolian Islands that few seek out

Filicudi lacks Stromboli's fame and Panarea's glamour, but it has something rarer: silence, time, and a fishing village that has remained intact.

Alicudi

Almost deserted Jul 9, 2026

Alicudi: the island without roads where the world stands still

No cars, no scooters, no tarmac: on Alicudi you get around on foot or by mule. It is the most isolated of the Aeolian Islands, and perhaps the most genuine.

Marettimo

Marettimo: the end of the world in the heart of the Mediterranean

The westernmost of the Egadi Islands is also the wildest: crystal-clear waters, sea caves, and trails where silence is still possible.

Sardinia

Trenino Verde of Sardinia: The Narrow-Gauge Rails of the Forgotten Island

On 950 mm rails through the Barbagia and the Campidano: Sardinia's slowest train reveals granite villages and nuraghi hidden in the maquis.

Procida, Campania

Responsible travel

Skip Burano: Procida, the Most Authentic Colourful Island in the Mediterranean

Procida is the perfect alternative to Burano: pastel houses, a working fishing harbour and genuine island life, free from Venetian crowds.

Ponza, Lazio

Responsible travel

Instead of Capri: Ponza, the Pontine Island That Needs No Celebrities

Ponza is the perfect alternative to Capri: Caribbean-blue sea, natural caves and a relaxed atmosphere completely free of the jet-set circus.

Tórshavn, Faroe Islands

Tórshavn and Múlafossur: In the Faroe Islands, Where the Wind Writes the Geography

Tórshavn, Europe's smallest capital, and the Múlafossur waterfall in the Faroe Islands: extreme nature, turf-roofed houses, and Atlantic solitude.

Birka, Sweden

Birka: The Viking Island in Lake Mälaren, on Stockholm's Doorstep

Birka, Scandinavia's first urban settlement, rises on an island in Lake Mälaren: Viking ruins, an evocative museum, and deep silence just one hour from Stockholm.

Trakai, Lithuania

Trakai: The Island Castle That Guards the Soul of Lithuania

Trakai, Lithuania's red island castle on Lake Galvė: grand duchy history, Karaite culture and enchanting lake landscapes just outside Vilnius.

Ustica, Sicily

Ustica: The Black Pearl of the Tyrrhenian and Italy's First Marine Reserve

A guide to Ustica, the volcanic island north of Palermo: Italy's first marine reserve, sea caves, legendary diving and a colourful painted borgo.

Palmaria Island, Liguria

Palmaria Island: Porto Venere from the Sea and Trails Among Fortresses

A guide to Palmaria island in the Gulf of Poets: trekking among forts and scrubland, sea caves, Pozzale beach and views over Porto Venere.

San Pietro Island, Sardinia

San Pietro Island: Carloforte and the Ligurian Soul of Sardinia

A guide to San Pietro island and Carloforte: Sardinia's Ligurian enclave, with bluefin tuna, towering cliffs, Eleonora's falcon and Caribbean-blue sea.

Ventotene, Lazio

Ventotene: Roman History and Crystal Waters in the Pontine Archipelago

A guide to Ventotene: Roman harbour, Bourbon prison, the Santo Stefano marine reserve and dreamy seabeds in the Pontine islands.

Linosa, Sicily

Linosa: The Volcanic Island of the Loggerhead Turtle

A guide to Linosa, the volcanic Pelagie island: black sand beaches, sea turtles, colourful painted houses and some of Italy's clearest waters.

Marettimo, Sicily

Marettimo: The Wild Egadi Island Where Time Stands Still

A guide to Marettimo, the most remote of the Egadi Islands: pine-scented trails, sea caves, protected seabeds and an authentic fishing borgo.

Teshima, Japan

Responsible travel

Teshima — The Island of the Water Museum and Slow Beauty

Teshima, in Japan's Inland Sea, holds a one-of-a-kind water museum, an archive of heartbeats and terraced rice paddies: art and absolute silence.

Lamu, Kenya

Lamu: The Car-Free Island Where Kenya Speaks Ancient Swahili

Wooden dhows, coral houses, donkeys instead of cars and a thousand-year-old Swahili culture: Lamu is the Africa that safari tourism never tells you about.

Si Phan Don, Champasak, Laos

Si Phan Don: the four thousand islands where the Mekong stands still

Hammocks, bicycles, waterfalls and Irrawaddy dolphins: Si Phan Don is the Mekong's river archipelago in Laos where time dissolves into the water.

Naoshima, Kagawa, Japan

Naoshima Beyond the Museums: The Island Where Art Dissolves Into Landscape

Naoshima is more than Chichu and Benesse: coastal trails, art-house dwellings and bathhouses turned into installations — best explored on foot.

Capraia, Tuscan Archipelago, Tuscany, Italy

Capraia: The Tuscan Archipelago Island That Nobody Reaches

350 inhabitants, a single port, no sandy beaches: Capraia is Tuscany's wildest island, poised between Corsica and Elba.

Ventotene, Pontine Islands, Lazio, Italy

Ventotene: The Island of Exile That Became the Secret Heart of Europe

A Tyrrhenian island with 700 inhabitants, an intact Roman harbour and the manifesto that founded the EU: the greatest story in the smallest of places.

Garfagnana, Tuscany, Italy

Italian villages

Isola Santa: The Submerged Village That Resurfaces in the Heart of the Apuane

A tiny quarrymen's village at the gateway to the Antro del Corchia, half-swallowed by an artificial lake: its houses rise roughly every ten years like a mirage, when the reservoir is periodically drained.

Formentera, Balearic Islands, Spain

Instead of Ibiza: Formentera, the Balearic Island Where Time Takes Its Time

Caribbean waters one ferry hour from Ibiza, dirt roads through junipers and salt flats, and a nightlife that consists of watching the stars.

Procida, Campania, Italy

Beyond Capri: Procida, the Gulf of Naples Island That Won Without Even Trying

Pastel-coloured houses at Marina Corricella, the hilltop borgo of Terra Murata, and volcanic beaches. The island that was Italy's 2022 Capital of Culture — unchanged.

Sifnos, Cyclades, Greece

Instead of Mykonos: Sifnos, the Greek Island Where You Come to Eat, Not to Dance

Three hundred white churches, handmade ceramics, and a culinary tradition unrivalled in the Cyclades. Sifnos is the anti-Mykonos by nature.

Trogir, Dalmatia, Croatia

Instead of Dubrovnik: Trogir, the Dalmatian Island-City Where Romanesque Meets the Sea

An entire UNESCO island-city linked to the mainland by a bridge. Romanesque cathedral, Venetian walls and not a cruise ship in sight.

Milos, Cyclades, Greece

Instead of Santorini: Milos, the Greek Island of Many Colours Without the Cycladic Crowds

Seventy multicoloured beaches, fishing villages and early Christian catacombs. The island where the Venus was born — still free of sprawling resorts.

Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Hebridean Way: ten islands in the Scottish Atlantic by bike

A route that crosses the Outer Hebrides archipelago, linking ten islands via ferries and causeways. Deserted white beaches, flowering machair and Atlantic wind: one of Britain's most remote and least travelled routes, far from the tourist circuits of mainland Scotland.

Very quiet Jun 30, 2026

Almost deserted Jun 29, 2026

Instead of Mont Saint-Michel: spectacular, uncrowded abbeys and islands

Looking for an alternative to Mont Saint-Michel? Abbeys on islands, cliffs and gorges, with the same drama and none of the summer crush.

Tired of Santorini? The Greek islands with the same blue domes and half the tourists

Alternatives to Santorini: Cycladic islands with blue domes and few crowds, plus a Greece of stone to add to your trip.

Very quiet Jun 29, 2026

Not just Capri: islands and coastal villages of Campania without mass tourism

Looking for an alternative to Capri? Islands, seaside villages and gems of Campania to enjoy away from the crowds, between the Bay of Naples and the Cilento.

Very quiet Jun 29, 2026